Con Edison takes top honors by sticking to the basics

摘要

When other utilities were venturing into diverse, unregulated businesses, Consolidated Edison Inc. (Con Edison) continued its conservative "wires and pipes" approach to sustaining financial strength. This philosophy has served the company―and its shareholders―well. EL&P is pleased to present our annual Utility of the Year award to Con Edison. In a year fraught with credit rating fiascoes, Con Edison has sustained superior credit quality while also delivering electricity with award-winning reliability. As of early November, Con Edison's corporate credit rat-ing and outlook by Standard & Poor's (S&P) was A+/Stable/A-1. At the Edison Electric Institute's Financial Conference in October, Consolidated Edison Inc. reported its holding company held an A bond rating and its regulated businesses held an A+ bond rating. The company has minimal off balance sheet financing and has no ratings triggers. As of Sept. 30, Con Edison's balance sheet showed long-term debt at 49.3 percent, preferred stock at 1.8 percent and common equity at 48.9 percent. Regulated businesses account for 98 percent of the company's earnings contributions. Only two percent is derived from unregulated businesses. This formula seems to have worked for Con Edison. The company has demonstrated 10 consecutive years of return on equity of 12 percent or better and has provided investors with 28 consecutive years of dividend increases. Over the last 10 years, Con Edison's total return to shareholders averaged 9 percent, compared to 3.8 percent for S&P Electrics.